Two Brooklyn lawyers have been charged for allegedly tossing a Molotov cocktail into a New York Police Department vehicle early Saturday morning during a protest decrying the police killing of George Floyd.
Colinford Mattis, 32, a corporate attorney with Pryor Cashman, and attorney Urooj Rahman, 31, were charged for the attack where they threw the bomb into an empty police cruiser that was parked outside the 88th Precinct station house in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, cops say.
Police say Rahman, a registered attorney in New York, tossed a bottle filled with gasoline through a broken window into the cruiser just before 1am but the Molotov cocktail failed to ignite.
Rahman then jumped into a van that Mattis was driving and together they sped away from the scene according to the New York Daily News.
Brooklyn lawyers Colinford Mattis 32, (above) and Urooj Rahman, 31, have been arrested for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail into an empty NYPD cruiser in Fort Greene early Saturday morning
The bomb attempt was caught on video surveillance cameras outside the precinct located on DeKalb Avenue.
Police chased and stopped the duo’s van on Willoughby Street and found the makings of another Molotov cocktail in the backseat and a gasoline container.
Both Rahman and Mattis were arrested and charged with attempting to damage of destroy law-enforcement vehicles. Neither had been arrested before.
They face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years in jail.
They face federal charges and will be arraigned Monday.
‘No rational human being can ever believe that hurling firebombs at police officers and vehicles is justified,’ Brooklyn US Attorney Richard Donaghue said.
Mattis lives in East New York and graduated from Princeton University and New York University law school in 2016, according to his Linkedin page.
Mattis is a corporate attorney with Pryor Cashman and graduated from Princeton University and New York University law school
The smoldering remains of a scorched police car pictured above vandalized during riots in Fort Greene in Brooklyn on Friday May 29
He’s an associate with Pryor Cashman, a corporate law firm in Times Square where he specializes in start-ups, and is a member of Community Board 5 in East New York.
As of Sunday evening his profile on the law firm’s website was deleted.
‘This is shocking news to me. The allegation does surprise me because that doesn’t sound like him,’ Andre Mitchell, president of Community Board 5, said to the Daily News.
Rahman’s social media shows she graduated from Fordham University in New York.
The super of Rahman’s building in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn described her as ‘an angel’ who recently lost her legal job.
‘I can’t believe it. I’m stunned. This kid? She’s an angel,’ George Raleigh said.
The attack did not appear to be directly linked to a similar Molotov cocktail attack on NYPD officers in Brooklyn on Friday where two upstate New York women threw a bomb into a cruiser carrying four NYPD officers.
Samantha Shader, 27, of Catskill New York is now facing federal charge of attempting to damage of destroy law-enforcement vehicles for allegedly throwing the Molotov cocktail into the cop car in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Friday evening.
The device failed to ignite because she used tissue paper in her makeshift bomb, which burned out before reaching the explosives inside.
Samantha Shader, 27, is accused of chucking the petrol bomb at the police vehicle – which had four officers inside – in Brooklyn shortly after 10.30pm on Friday
Footage obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com shows as a woman prepares the explosive before returning to throw it at the van; the cocktail did not explode
Samantha Shader (right) and Darian Shader (left) were arrested Friday during protests in Brooklyn. Samantha faces a a federal charge of damaging a police vehicle, Darian has been charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration
Her sister Darien Shader has been charged with obstruction of justice and was released without bail on Sunday after being arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
Footage obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com shows as a woman prepares the explosive before returning to throw it at the van.
The lit bottle did not explode, and no officers were injured but other protesters are seen running from the scene and heard expressing shock at the action.
According to a statement provided to DailyMail.com, the NYPD officers exited the cruiser and attempted to arrest Shader. She allegedly then bit an officer as he tried to arrest her.
Her younger sister, Darian, 21, tried to interfere and was also taken into custody. She was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration.
Police has sought attempted murder charges in the case. Shader faces a single charge of causing damage by fire and explosives to a police vehicle.
Prosecutors said Sunday: ‘In a post-arrest statement, Shader later admitted to police that she had thrown the Molotov Cocktail at the NYPD vehicle.’
They were among some 3,000 demonstrators who took to the streets in New York City overnight as part of a series of nationwide protests over the death of black man George Floyd who was allegedly killed by a white cop in Minneapolis on Monday.